How To Plan An Authentic Burns Night

A Burns night and the Burns poem is a national institution and something I became accustomed to during my time at university in St. Andrews, Scotland.

It’s something that is celebrated with great flair and affection in Scotland and more recently “south of the border” in the rest of the UK and the world! It’s one day in the year when you can host a truly beautiful dinner party, drink lots of fine wines, scotch whiskey and enjoy the beautiful poetry that Burns shared with the world. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Burns Night: The poem

Might you know Burns best from your celebratory singing on New Years Day… any guesses? Well, it’s “Auld Lang Syne” which he wrote over 250 years ago and is arguably one of his most loved and world-renowned poems!

Burns Night: How Did It Start?

When Burns passed away in 1796, his friends decided to hold a memorial dinner, where each and every person recited his beautiful poems, ate as much ” haggis, neeps and tatties” as they wanted and drank until a stupor of tomfoolery ensued.

Now, every year people from all over the world join in suppers to commemorate his life and works on the late poet’s birthday, January 25th.

Burns Night: How Can I celebrate?

One lovely way to celebrate the life and works of Robert Burns is by hosting your very own “Burns Supper”. Whether you are in Scotland or anywhere else in the world – why not experience a truly Scottish tradition and celebrate the beautiful poems Burns created!

Burns Night: How to prepare

1.) Grab yourself a Burns poem book. These are relatively inexpensive and can be picked up in most local bookshops. I managed to find mine at a local thrift store for a very small amount – something like 50p. Personally, I prefer a physical book for this supper, but if you cant manage to find a book, head online and save a few of your favourite poems to recite.

2.) Grab a group of your friends and relatives – preferably ones that will not judge you too heavily upon drinking too much Scotch whiskey or wine! 🙂 It’s also beneficial if you know someone that can play the bagpipes.

If not, just get some of their melodies from the likes of Youtube or on music streaming sites.

3.) Share the book/link with your friends that you have invited. Ask them all to Choose 2-3 poems that resonate with them.

4.) Prepare some food. The tradition of a Burns Night Supper would not be complete without some delicious food. the tradition of eating, boiled and mashed, “neeps & tatties” (potatoes and turnips) with some Haggis that still holds strong in Scotland.

It can be quite hard to source Haggis outside of Scotland, so if you struggle just use some minced beef/lamb and mix thoroughly with garlic, onions, thyme and oats. wrap in a filo pastry to mimic the lining of the “Haggis sack”. Here is a perfect example of this recipe.

5.) While you keep the wines, ports and single malt whiskies flowing, why not recite some of the poems you have chosen? If you have cooked a Haggis, the obligatory “address to a Haggis” speech will be essential before attempting to eat anything! Some of the wording is hard to pronounce (well, I find it hard) – but that’s part of the fun! Especially when you have had a few glasses of whiskey! 😉